Tips for Finding a Sponsor Employer for a Work Visa

Learn about the types of visas available and the nature of the jobs before you go out looking for a sponsor.

You cannot apply for a visa to work in the U.S. until
you have an employer willing to offer you a job and act as your
petitioner in the application process. Yet finding a job when you don't
yet have any right to work in the U.S. is a huge challenge. How do
people do it?

Understand the U.S. Work Visa Options

As talented as you might be, the United States government only
authorizes labor-based nonimmigrant visas for people in certain limited
categories. The most likely visas include, in brief:

E-3. Nationals of Australia who will work in a specialty occupation that requires a bachelor's degree (B.A.) or higher education.

H-1B. Workers in a specialty occupation that
requires at least a B.A., or else it's equivalent in on-the-job
experience. This category also included distinguished fashion models.

H-1C. Registered nurses who will work in areas where health professionals are in short supply.

H-2A. Temporary agricultural workers who will fill
positions that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has recognized as
facing a labor supply shortage.

H2B. Workers of various kinds who will perform temporary jobs for which there is a shortage of available, qualified U.S. workers.

O-1. People of extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics.

O-2. Essential support staff of people with O-1 visas.

P-1. Internationally recognized athletes and entertainers and their essential support staff.

R-1. Ministers and other workers of recognized religions.

We've left off of this list various visas in narrower categories,
say, where your existing employer might arrange for a short training
stint in the U.S., or you might come as part of a group to give an
artistic performance.

Identify Employers in Need

Despite high levels of unemployment in the United States, there are
still employers who cannot find the employees they need. Such employers
might be happy to help someone from another country obtain a visa to
work in the United States.

Look through want ads and at job posting
websites for companies hiring large numbers of employees or that have been posting
the same job for months. Those employers
may be feeling desperate and may be more willing to go through the immigration
process (which can be lengthy, complicated, and expensive) to fill their employment needs.

Look for Employers With Experience Hiring Foreign Workers

Employers with a history of hiring foreign workers are more likely
to hire you than employers that don’t have much experience with the
process. (Because immigration law is complicated, they may not even know
what their options are.) Some large corporations have entire
departments and in-house lawyers dedicated to bringing in foreign
workers.

But even a smaller employer who has been through the process before, and successfully so, may be interested in bringing
foreign workers to fill their needs. Keep your eyes open for employers who are advertising
abroad. Also read the company's press releases or online self-descriptions regarding
hiring foreign workers.

Use -- and Expand -- Your Network

Start by asking everyone you know (including, of course, in your
online social networks) whether they know anyone who has been
hired by a company in the United States. Then contact those people to
ask how they found their jobs, and whether they know of any openings or
can ask around.

Contact the Employer

Once you identify employers that might be
willing to hire foreign workers, you have to reach out to them. Use any
names you might have as connections
and try to have a name of a specific person at the employer to contact.
Even if no job opening has been posted, there's no harm in sending a
resume and a letter introducing yourself, just in case. If a job has
been posted, carefully follow their application guidelines.

In preparing your resume, be sure to read U.S.-authored books on
what's expected in terms of style and tone. You might even want to ask
someone from the United States to review and edit your resume. Remember,
it will be your responsibility to prove to
the employer that your skills and talents are worth the process that it
will have
to go through to bring you to the United States to work for them.